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hints of spring

Shadows shorten as the days lengthen.
I'm not sure how to explain, but I can smell it. I think it has something to do with thawing dirt.
Speaking of, instead of snow angels, the babe makes earth angels. and I let her.
I am continuously lured into the sun's trick of believing it is pleasantly warm outside, but promptly sent back in for need of a scarf and mittens.
snow storms, and their shadows, don't stay around longer than a few days.
I begin to crave more bright, lively, and ephemeral flavors and textures rather than the heavy enduring meals of deep winter.
I just feel it.

what have you seen of spring (or maybe autumn) where you are?

Salads fit into the category of bright and lively early spring meals. I know some people don't like seeing salad recipes on food blogs, but it's not only about the greens and other foods in their barest and freshest forms, it's also about what you drizzle on top. In this case, a vinaigrette. A wonderful vinaigrette that took me a whole two minutes to put together.

It calls for brown rice syrup, but if you don't have it use a small amount of your favorite liquid (hopefully natural) sweetener. Brown rice syrup has caramel, almost butterscotch, undertones. Its sweet is gentle and demure. Perfectly paired with the liveliness of apple cider vinegar and chevre.

The quality of your vinagirette will greatly depend upon the quality of your ingredients; isn't this the case with so many things? Of the three, be sure to have a good quality apple cider vinegar. Many low quality vinegars are too astringent and almost inedible alone. I like the bragg organic raw apple cider vinegar.

My favorite explanation of how to make a vinaigrette was from Alice Waters on the Martha Stewart show some time last spring. She has such an ease with food and words that I love.

Combine vinegar and sweetener. Taste and adjust vinegar and sweetener to your preferences. Add a stream of oil while whisking to combine everything, a Tablespoon or more, as much as you like really. Drizzle over salad.

blueberry + avocado salad
a few handfuls of spring greens
hearty handfuls of fresh blueberries (dried or frozen will work too)
an avocado, sliced into chunks
walnuts, dusted with ground cinnamon
a few crumbles of chevre
a drizzle or two of brown rice syrup vinaigrette

Combine all ingredients and eat in a sunny spot in your home.
you could add other berries, citrus, apple slices, anything you fancy.